James Franco's professor claims he was fired for giving actor a 'D'

There's high drama in higher ed, as one of
James Franco's NYU professors is suing the university saying they canned him for giving the "
127 Hours" star a "D."

Jose Angel Santana, Franco's professor in his "Directing the Actor II" class, gave the thespian the low grade for skipping 12 of his 14 classes. Santana was later fired by the university. Franco was at NYU pursing his master's in fine arts.

"The school has bent over backwards to create a Franco-friendly environment, that's for sure," Santana
tells the New York Post. "The university has done everything in its power to curry favor with James Franco."

Santana adds other professors in the department attempted to get in good with Franco by giving him good grades. Santana cites the time Franco hired one of his instructors, Jay Anania, to write and direct "William Vincent." The film starred Franco and was admitted to the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival. Additionally, the film department chairman John Tintori had a cameo in a film financed by Franco.

"In my opinion, they've turned the NYU graduate film degree into swag for James Franco's purposes, a possession, something you can buy," Santana says.

None of the people involved have offered comment on these allegations.